As Summer Travel Season Heats up, ReachLocal Provides Travel/Hospitality Companies With Turnkey Internet Marketing Solution

Gives Travel/Hospitality Ads Prominent Placement on Multiple Search Engines Without Complexities of Managing Online Advertising Campaigns

ENCINO, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- June 29, 2005 -- Gives Travel/Hospitality Ads Prominent Placement on Multiple Search Engines Without Complexities of Managing Online Advertising Campaigns

ReachLocal (www.reachlocal.com) announced today that it has refined its successful new Internet marketing solution to help travel and hospitality companies nationwide gain unprecedented placement on the most popular local search engines -- without lifting a finger.

Using patent-pending technology, the ReachLocal platform creates and manages turnkey ad campaigns for local, nationwide and franchise travel-related businesses. When a search matches selected geographic areas and any one of up to 5,000 keywords per campaign, ReachLocal places that ad at the top of the search results.

ReachLocal's announcement coincides with a busy summer travel season and growing use of the Internet among consumers to research and book their travel. A JupiterResearch forecast of the U.S. online travel market predicts robust growth of online travel sales through 2009 -- reaching a total of $91 billion, or 33 percent of all travel purchased.

Tapping into that market can be challenging, however, for companies that ignore search engine marketing. According to JupiterResearch's U.S. Travel Consumer Survey 2005, search engines play an important role in influencing consumers to consider a specific site, and travel marketers must prioritize search engine marketing in their marketing mix.

While large travel aggregators like Expedia and Travelocity enjoy significant name recognition thanks to big-budget ad campaigns and prime-time television ad buys, smaller independent travel-related businesses struggle to effectively use search engines to attract consumers' attention in one of the most competitive online advertising sectors.

"Travel clearly is one of the big online winners -- consumers increasingly turn to the Internet to learn about their destinations, research airfare and lodging, and ultimately to book their travel arrangements," said Zorik Gordon, president and CEO, ReachLocal. "But what's not as obvious to the individual travel companies is how to take advantage of this. Many know they need to be online, but success depends on much more than offering a website. Search engine marketing has become the deciding factor in the success of many travel-related businesses. ReachLocal offers companies of all sizes a way to get their own ads to the top of search engine results, so they can succeed in this extremely competitive segment."

Currently ReachLocal is working with the Internet's leading pay-per-click search engine providers (Google, Yahoo Sponsored Search), Internet Yellow Pages companies (SuperPages.com), paid inclusion providers (Yahoo Site Submit) and geo-targeted banner networks (Advertising.com). With the "pay-per-click" model, advertisers pay only when users click on their ads to visit specific sites.

A New Dimension in Internet Marketing

The ReachLocal solution already is helping travel companies more effectively use the Internet to market themselves. Dimension Development Company, Inc., a hospitality management company that owns and operates 35 brand-name hotels throughout the country, tested an online campaign with ReachLocal for 26 of its hotels -- including those with such recognizable brands as Embassy Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Hampton Inn, Residence Inn by Marriott, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Holiday Inn. Ralph Thiergart, Dimension's senior vice president of marketing, set the initial budget at $200 per month, per property.

After just two months, Thiergart reported that the ReachLocal campaign helped Dimension achieve a larger return on investment than any other form of advertising the company tried. A $255 investment for one hotel resulted in nearly $28,000 in revenue; another property turned $270 in keyword buys into $7,900 in revenue. After spending just under $5,000 for all 26 hotels participating in the test run, Dimension earned more than $81,000 in revenue.

"We've been very impressed with the results so far," said Thiergart. "The entire campaign is totally measurable, and we're able to say with confidence what our return on investment is. Plus, with ReachLocal you get one-stop-shopping. There's a lot to consider with search engine marketing -- which keywords to buy and for how much -- but ReachLocal handles all aspects of the campaign."

Many companies have shied away from the pay-per-click search advertising model because self-service keyword management can be complex and time-consuming. The ReachLocal solution transforms the process dramatically. After an initial 15-minute set-up process, campaigns are virtually hands-off, enabling marketers to concentrate on their businesses, not on the intricacies of a search campaign.

The ReachLocal system manages the entire campaign -- it sets up accounts with each online publisher, handles all search engine keyword selection and bidding, and continually optimizes the campaigns to ensure that the highest possible number of leads are generated. Advertisers receive detailed reporting to track their return on investment, including daily summaries of website visits, and phone and email tracking.

While each of Dimension's individual hotels manages its own print advertising, ReachLocal's full-service search engine marketing solution lends itself to central coordination and enables Thiergart to track spending and results company-wide -- often a challenge for multiple franchise operators.

Among the most valuable aspects of the ReachLocal solution is the ability to track online transactions, according to Thiergart. "ReachLocal is able to track what the customer does on the hotel website up to and including the point at which they make a reservation," he said. "For the first time, I have the ability to track conversion down to the purchase."

Thiergart also lauded ReachLocal's detailed phone call tracking -- which includes not only the total number of phone calls, but also the length of each call -- which he uses to accurately measure the ROI and effectiveness of each campaign.

ReachLocal is bringing its innovative platform to market by developing a network of independent sales agents around the country, working with them to incorporate the ReachLocal solution into their existing campaigns to help drive online customers to their clients.

About ReachLocal

ReachLocal (www.ReachLocal.com) uses local search to bring Internet marketing within reach of every business, dramatically easing the process of finding customers online. Its proprietary, patent-pending advertising platform gives local businesses prominent placement on leading search engines, including Google and Yahoo!/Overture, along with online Yellow Pages companies and other popular commercial listings -- while limiting the display of the ads to only those people who live within specific geographic areas. Based in Encino, Calif., ReachLocal utilizes a nationwide network of independent sales agents to serve a diverse client base that includes auto dealers, dentists, home improvement companies, real estate agents, attorneys, travel agents and more.

Contact:

Ken Greenberg
Edge Communications, Inc.
818-990-5001
ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com